Click to get a $5/$25 coupon at True Value Hardware stores. (Thanks, !)

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Shari emailed in:

I couldn’t find the rebate
tear offs for the Listerine Smart Rinse (free after ECBs at CVS this month) so I called Johnson and Johnson at their
customer service number (1-888-222-0182) and asked them to mail me a rebate
form. The said they could do better than that–they asked for my name
and address and said I’d have my rebate check for $3.89 in 7-10 days!!
Thought I’d pass this along.

Here’s a great idea from Beth in Columbus, OH:

I wanted to let you know about something my husband and I do with
rebate money: Once we receive a rebate check, big or small, we put
it into an account for our two-year-old son. When the account hits a
certain amount, we send that money to his college fund.

Because I’ve already paid for the purchases, I’m not really missing the
money. Even if it’s a big purchase, by the time the rebate arrives,
I’ve forgotten all about it and managed to budget without the money
from the rebate.

Another family we know puts the $ amount of their coupon savings from
the grocery store into a similar account. For example, I used $18.50
of manufacturer’s coupons last week to "save" us money so therefore we
would add $18.50 to my son’s account.

For those of you who send in for rebates regularly, what do you do with your rebate money? Put it in a special account? Use it for groceries? Fund your CVS purchases? Comment and tell us about it!

29 Comments

Thanks for the tip! I called the Johnson & Johnson 800# and the representative said they didn’t have a rebate form to send, but took down my UPC info and said they are mailing me a $5 coupon for the Smart Rinse!

Like Beth, I often deposit my rebate checks in our general savings account or into one of our littles’ savings accounts. Just as she mentioned, once I have put out the money, I don’t miss it and would rather save it when I get it back!

We don’t do anything with the savings from our coupons or rebates. We mainly just use these savings to keep from going bankrupt! lol.
On another note. I have an extra rebate form for the Listerine if you would like it to give away to someone. just email me and let me know and i can drop it in the mail to you.

I just tried to call J&J and although the rep was very friendly, she wasn’t able to send me a mail-in-rebate form for the Smart Rinse, nor was she able to take my info over the phone for the rebate. She did, however, take my address and is sending me 3 $1/1 coupons for the Smart Rinse! 🙂

SwagBucks looks like a neat site. Although, I read the privacy policy and it kinda scared me:

swagbucks.com – search & win Privacy Policy
swagbucks.com – search & win owns and operates a number of different sites on the Web (each, ” swagbucks.com – search & win “). swagbucks.com – search & win is strongly committed to protecting the privacy of its user community. The intent of this privacy policy is to detail the information swagbucks.com – search & win. may gather about individuals who visit the swagbucks.com – search & win. Sites, how that information is used, and swagbucks.com – search & win disclosure practices. Please note that this policy applies only to the swagbucks.com – search & win. Sites, and not to the Web sites of other companies or organizations to which we provide links.

There is more to the Privacy Policy that would send up a red flag. Just a thought!!

I called and they told me to write my upc code on receipt, circle item, circle store and write that I could not find rebate form and send it to: Listerine Smart Rinse Anticavity flouride rinse rebate Program at PO Box 3259 Lancaster, PA 17604

I save all my rebate money in a separate envelope in my coupon notebook. When I have a small amount due at CVS or Walgreen’s after using my ecb’s or rr’s, I use the rebate money to pay for it. It makes those items totally FREE! I love it. It means that we are able to budget more tightly in this area, and put more toward our mortgage. We have less than three years to mortgage pay off if all goes well.

Thanks for the tip about the Smart Rinse. I called and asked for the form and the woman I talked to just offered me the rebate. She asked for the UPC number, lot number, and expiration date on the the bottle and then told me she’d send me a $4 check. She never asked how much I spent. I’m so excited! 🙂

Thanks for the heads up Sheri! I called Listerine as well today and was told they were having trouble with the rebate tear off forms getting where they need to be so they were happy to mail me a 4.00 rebate and coupons (I requested these as well.. I mean I was on the phone to them so why not!)

I put the rebate on things I got for free or almost free towards our med school loan payback fund. For larger items, like electronics, we put the rebate money back into the virtual “envelope” (we do an envelope system on the computer) that the purchase came out of. I make a debit for the original price but make a note that there should be a rebate of a certain amount. Then when the rebate comes, it goes back into that category. Those are often larger amounts, like $30+. We usually count on the final price of those items after rebate when we decide to make the purchase.

When it comes to coupon savings, I don’t put that money anywhere else. I don’t really look at it as savings because I wouldn’t have bought most of the items at their pre-coupon/sale price. I just look at it as a way to make our budget stretch farther.

However, we just made a few changes to our auto insurance policy, which reduced our premium by $200. We reduced the collision coverage to something that made the most sense for us, and we are definitely putting that $200 into our car replacement fund.

WOW is anyone able to walk the rest of us through how exactly they got the rebates and such through the J & J rep? I called and got someone who was not only unable to send me a rebate sheet (or the rebate without the sheet) but was unable to help me at all! Other than to suggest that I could “Try looking in stores”. What did I do wrong?

I put my smaller rebates into our emergency fund kept at a separate bank and not linked to any cards or checking accounts. Since we generally (knock on wood) don’t touch this money and it has a decent interest rate it’s nice to see it keep growing even if it’s just small amounts. Then when emergencies strike like unexpected car repairs we are not draining the entire account.

I think it is great what everyone is doing with there rebate money. I have been thinking a lot about this lately and reallly need to put some hard thought into it. I feel like if I am “saving” the money, I should really SAVE the money.

I will let you know when I come up with a true plan.

P.s. I will be calling J&J. I wonder how many rebates they would allow?

How did you all get so lucky with the Smart Rinse rebate? I called and she said I should check with my dentist, and then put me on the coupons & promotions list. Nuts. Maybe I’ll get some good coupons out of it?

With the rebates, I’ve decided to use the Walgreens rebates only for more Walgreen rebate purchases–maybe up to $20? Not totally decided there. When it’s over $20(?), then use for small balances. With other rebates, I’m going to put them back in my grocery budget. My grocery budget is so small, but it’s small out of necessity–there’s just no more money to put in it. So the rebates, even a couple of dollars, will help. I enjoyed reading all the other rebate ideas!

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